TORONTO — First, Phil Kessel left the ice. Then James van Riemsdyk retired to the dressing room. And before you knew it, a serious question hung over the team’s future: What if the Toronto Maple Leafs had to play an extended period of time without their top two scorers?

The fear was somewhat placated after Monday’s practice, when head coach Randy Carlyle said he expected both players to be in the lineup for the following night’s game. But it is scary to think where the Leafs would be without the offensive contributions of the top line.

In the last nine games, Kessel, van Riemsdyk and Tyler Bozak have combined for 15 goals and 33 points. They have been a major reason why the team has lost just twice during that span. But while they have accounted for 50 per cent of the offence, a somewhat unlikely source has quietly come up with most of the other half.

In the first two months of the season, Toronto’s defence combined for just three goals. In the last nine games alone, they have scored eight times.

It is the kind of secondary offensive production that the Leafs have been searching for. The only question is, Why now?

Well, shot volume has something to do with it. In October, the Leafs defence fired 91 shots on net in 14 games. This month, at the urging of their head coach, the team has already managed 111 shots in 13 games.

“We have been focusing more on getting pucks through, and I feel we’ve been doing a better job of doing that,” Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf said. “If you get it into the vicinity of the net, good things happen.”

While the defencemen are doing a better job of getting pucks to the net, the forwards also deserve credit.

“Guys are going to the net and screening goalies,” Carl Gunnarsson said, “because I don’t think any goalie in the league is letting in a goal from the blue-line on a wrist shot. Forwards are doing a great job cycling the puck down low and it’s opening the points for us.”

On paper, there has always been the potential for plenty of offence from the defence. Phaneuf, who is tied for the lead among Leafs defencemen with five goals, finished in the top five in the league in goals last season. Cody Franson, who leads the team with 25 points, tied for sixth among NHL defencemen with 29 points last season. And both Jake Gardiner (five goals) and Morgan Rielly (14 assists) have the ability to carry the puck from one end of the ice to the other without making a pass.

And yet, despite the supposed firepower, for the first half of the season no one seemed to be willing to pull the trigger. As a result, Toronto’s defence has is tied for 16th in the league with 19 goals (Boston leads with 32 goals). But if the last two months are any indication, the team could be trending in the right direction.

“I think it’s a question of developing their game or getting comfortable with their game,” Leafs head coach Randy Carlyle said. “What we’ve tried to do is instil some confidence in them that they have the green light to go in when the situation presents itself.

“We want to play more as a five-man unit … when you see the teams that are having success, the D-men are very active. They’re pinching on the walls, they’re joining the rush, they’re active in the cycle. I don’t think we’re any different than any other team. We just want to stress that we want them to be involved more.”